Siliguri police commissionerate inaugurated

SILIGURI, 5 AUG: Brushing aside controversies regarding inclusion of a police station from Jalpaiguri district ignoring the Bengal Police Act in the Siliguri police commissionerate, chief minister Mamata Banerjee focussed on her government’s plan about the policing system for the state.

Addressing the inauguration of a new police set-up at Mallaguri in Siliguri this evening, the chief minister said the number of police personnel will be around 2,200 under the new police set-up. “Green police personnel will be recruited under the commissionerate. During the tenure of the previous government there was no recruitment in the police department, but we have so far recruited around 40,000 persons in the police,” she said at the inauguration programme.

She said 1,5,700 police personnel, including women, have been recruited in the Jungalmahal area.

“We will also recruit 3,500 policemen for the rural areas. We are also planning to introduce 65 women police stations in the state. Of the 65 police stations,10 have already become operational,” she added.

The DIG of Darjeeling range, Mr Anand Kumar has become the commissioner of the new set up.

The chief minister also made it clear that there would be no division of the state on the issue of the Hills.

“We do not want any division of Bengal. The Hills and the plains should be together,” she said. The director general of police (DG), Mr Naparajit Mukherjee, who was present at the programme, said the commissionerate will cover five police stations, including Bhaktinagar from Jalpaiguri. Around 1.20 lakh people and 640 sq km areas will fall under its jurisdiction.

Miss Banerjee also inaugurated the new building of the railway recruitment board (RRB) by remote.

“This is the 21st RRB offices in the country. I will again come to inaugurate the railway excel factory, Circuit Bench in Jalpaiguri, a film city and the ESI hospital in Siliguri,”

Railway minister Mukul Roy, north Bengal development minister Gautam Roy, additional director general of police  Suranjit Kar Purkayastha were also present at the programme. 

SNS